As promised , behold my photographic memory of a commercial from 1985:

------------------------------------------------
SCENE: Abandoned railroad tracks

(Closeup on Molly Ringwald-lookalike)

MRL (pouting): I hate my mother. She's so much prettier than me.

(Guitar riff)

ANNOUNCER: Jordache Basics.

ATTRACTIVE MALE FRIEND #1: Your mother?

ATTRACTIVE FEMALE FRIEND: Have you seen her mother?

ATTRACTIVE MALE FRIEND #2 (balancing on tracks): I have! I hope she gets divorced before I'm out of school!

(MRL flashes AMF2 dirty look, then gets mopey again)

MRL: I saw a picture of her from when she was my age.

AMF1 (interested): Was she hot?

MRL: No, she was short, with freckles, and a little bit overweight.

AFF (smirking): Kinda like you?

MRL (despondent): Exactly like me...

(A beat, as MRL realizes implications)

(MRL smiles, another guitar riff)

-------------------------------------------------------

Maybe this sticks with me because it was specifically meant to emulate the John Hughes movies (Pretty in Pink, anyone?) that I, as an eight-year-old, was not allowed to watch. I also think this commercial was the beginning of an advertising trend that is now the norm: commercials geared toward teenagers (and their discretionary income, which is apparently larger proportionally than any other demographic) that promote an image, rather than the product itself. What is this commercial really for, anyway? Yeah, I guess the kids are all wearing jeans, but I didn't even mention that in my little script. But I bet you all assumed they were wearing jeans, since they're all hanging out in the old railyard or whatever. This is more like a scene from one of those movies--you could create names and back stories for all four characters that have nothing to do with denim. Remember the Taster's Choice couple? (The guy went on to be Buffy's mentor on the TV show, and now he's on some BBC show.) Them too--though I suppose their relationship was inextricably linked with flavored yuppie coffee. But jeans are part of the Jordache kids' lifestyle as well... Anyway, I was thinking of that commercial yesterday (as I was redoing these notebooks...ARRGGHH...)

See what happens when I don't post for a week? I start thinking too much.

Speaking of which, I think it's time for another one of my music rants (cf. Extreme, Matchbox 20). This one will be devoted to Dan Fogleberg. I have to admit to you all that my taste in recreational music has been creeping towards Adult Contemporary in recent months. (And my taste in academic music toward Wagner--try finding a correlation there!) Before you start howling at me, don't worry--I still change the station whenever Celine Dion or Christina Aguilera or (Heaven forbid) Justin Timberlake come on. I think I'm just starting to appreciate the mellow stuff. There was a time when I wouldn't touch James Taylor with a ten-foot pole--now I turn it up. It's partly because of the radio stations I've been listening to: the "Timeless Favorites" station that juxtaposes Patsy Cline and Stevie Wonder; one that specializes in Eighties "Hitz"; and eek! a soft-rock station out of Mark's town that happens to play a lot of Billy Joel and Elton John and Journey/Foreigner/REO Speedwagon (as previously established, these three are actually the same band, which ought to be called Joureignerwagon or something), artists whom I have enjoyed for many years. In any case, I have been exposed to a lot of "lite" rock lately, and at some point began to develop an appreciation for Dan Fogleberg. I had always liked "Longer" (though I still cannot ignore the grammar--that's "fish", dear, not "fishes"), and then I kept hearing "Leader of the Band" on the radio--most notably on a weekend afternoon in June, eating lunch with Mark at Denny's. And then again, on our way to the Farmers' Market. Mark kept saying it was about a serial killer, and that it was "creepy" and "gross" ("...his blood runs through my instrument"), but that was just to get my dander up. He also kept mentioning this song "Same Old Lang Syne", which I could not recall hearing, but apparently had something to do with running into your ex-girlfriend in the supermarket and drinking beer in a parking lot. Last weekend he surprised me with a present from Borders--a greatest-hits CD entitled Essential Dan Fogleberg which was on sale. It's a mix of folky ballads and bland, proto-Richard Marx cuts. Though the liner notes cite that Fogleberg "reserves the right to rock", he doesn't really exercise his rights all that much. At best, he sounds like a Glenn Frey cover band. (The concept alone!) And yes, there is a song about the Kentucky Derby--from the horse's perspective. But I do like "Same Old Lang Syne":

Met my old lover in the grocery store
The snow was falling Christmas Eve
I stole behind her in the frozen foods
And I touched her on the sleeve
She didn't recognize the face at first
But then her eyes flew open wide
She went to hug me and she spilled her purse
And we laughed until we cried

We took her groceries to the checkout stand
The food was totalled up and bagged
We stood there lost in our embarrassment
As the conversation dragged
We went to have ourselves a drink or two
But couldn't find an open bar
We bought a six-pack at the liquor store
And we drank it in her car

We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness but neither one knew how

She said she'd married her an architect
Who kept her warm and safe and dry
She would have liked to say she loved the man
But she didn't like to lie
I said the years had been a friend to her
And that her eyes were still as blue
But in those eyes I wasn't sure if I saw doubt or gratitude
She said she saw me in the record stores
And that I must be doing well
I said the audience was heavenly but the traveling was hell

We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness but neither one knew how
We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to time
Reliving in our eloquence, another 'auld lang syne'

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired
And running out of things to say
She gave a kiss to me as I got out and I watched her drive away
Just for a moment I was back at school
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home
The snow turned in to rain...
--------------

There are so many goofy turns of phrase in this song, I don't have time to list them all. (Though my personal favorite is the part about the groceries being bagged; why anybody would commit that to poetry is beyond my comprehension.) But I like it. Its simplicity is nice. It's something anybody can relate to. (Though notice he squeezed in the part about life on the road. Rock stars!)

I have work to do...